Junior Rangers

Yesterday we took advantage of the beautiful weather and instead of doing Christmas-y things (which can be disclosed at a later date), we decided to explore the Antietam National Battlefield. Yes, we're geeks and reveling in having so much Civil War history at our fingertips. The kids are really digging the Junior Ranger programs that are at the National Parks. Caroline is already a Ranger in Harpers Ferry and we could barely contain her when she got her packet in Antietam. Sam was even able to complete the workbook (with help) and get his Ranger Badge. Of course, they didn't get the significance of what happened there - but we have through their teenage years to torture them by dragging them to all these places. =-)






We had a lovely Thanksgiving with some Leahy cousins that live near Annapolis. So nice to see family. So nice to only have to make peanut butter pie (AND take home turkey leftovers).

Sam has been perfecting his pouty/mad face once again...


Nate is focusing his energy on physical tasks rather than speaking. He likes to grunt and point a lot. But he can pull himself up at the counter and still on the stool to play with his laptop now. He has got to be just like the big kids.

From School Today...

Jim was able to go into CJ's school and volunteer for an hour this morning. From what he says, the experience was most equivocal to cat herding.
But here is our little Thanksgiving Princess.

National Zoo!!

Ummm. Okay. I think it was a week and a half ago I said I would post pictures from the Zoo.
Well. Things got away from me.
Honestly, I am so busy right now I do not know how I found time to work.
And I STILL can't get all the things done that I want to around the house. It seems like by the time I'm done cleaning up from breakfast that it's time for lunch and then it's the same for dinner. I have given up getting a room a day organized. If I get part of a room a day set, it's a big victory. And yes, I do realize there will always be stuff to do. I just don't want to fall back into the cluttered lifestyle that we led before. So I'm making a big effort to prevent that. I have been thinking that doing the home staging in Worcester was a particularly excellent thing (though it sucked at the time) because it was the first time I got called out on my organizational skills and pushed to be better at them (at least when it comes to housekeeping). And while I'm not getting calls everyday here asking for showings (that's a load off), I am trying to remember how nice it was to feel proud to have people come into my home and know it looked as nice as it could. Now I just get to keep things in better perspective. =-)
Caroline is doing better at school this week. She is still not sleeping, but I blame that more on the Kanani book from the library than her anxiety level. Her attitude is improved at home and she interacted well the the other children at Christmas Pageant rehearsal.
Sam is in the Christmas Pageant, too. He did okay tonight, as well. There was one little girl that was making him laugh and goof off (which, I'll admit, was nice to see - so I let it slide a little). He seemed pretty comfortable in his skin. Getting him in his donkey suit (yes, my son volunteered to be an ass) wasn't bad, either. All it took was the promise of one gummy dinosaur (which he forgot about later). He looked hysterical with the donkey hood on and wore it most of the rehearsal. He was the only stable animal that brought a Matchbox car to the stable. =-) Too funny. He still only wants to eat Cheerios and yogurt, but at this point, I'm thinking it's all about the small victories.
Nate really, really wanted to be in the pageant, too. In fact - he did manage to weasel himself up on the altar a couple times. He was banished after walking up to and sitting right between Mary and Joseph while they were busy adoring Baby Jesus. This kid is busy. He is everywhere and into everything. Kinda reminds me of this. All. Day. Long. But I digress.
Oh - right - I set out to post pictures.
So here they are...

Yeah, he's crazy...

Looking for the tiger...

Closest we could get to a group shot with everyone looking...

The tiger finally came out to lounge around for us.

Nate - the day he wore a train engineer's hat and carried around an empty bottle of Pepto Bismol. He keeps it interesting, i tell you.

They DO get along!

Sam was so tired the other night he fell asleep sitting at the ocunter...poor kid.

Histort of Rap - Part 3

Just after I posted the other two...lookie what I found!
I'll admit, it's not as good as the others - but I do thoroughly enjoy it.
I will put the hyperlink because I think this video is why the blog is loading so slowly now...

New Normal

Well, it's Monday morning. Caroline started school today, so it's pretty quiet here with just the boys. Nate is sleeping, so it's very quiet, actually. Sam is busy playing with his trains. He asks me to play with him and we have fun, but then I do something stupid (like making Gordon go to Knapford Station instead of Tidmouth Sheds) and I get banished from our Island of Sodor. Usually my banishment lasts for about five minutes - long enough for me to check to Worcester obituaries (I'm sick like that) and upload some pictures.
The house is slowly coming together. The tough part is that I can't make furniture fit where I think it should go. And it's totally frustrating me.
Take the dining room. The drop light is in the middle of the ceiling. Where it should be, right? WRONG.
Because the main return for the heat / air conditioning goes through one side of the room and the ceiling is lower in that area, the middle of the ceiling is NOT the middle of the room. Which makes our dining room table thoroughly silly when it's in the middle of the room and the light is up at one end of the table. I think I will request a little reconstruction be done at some point. Not now, though. But I am starting to compile my To Do/Wish List. =-)
Caroline got on the bus without incident today. I'm wondering if she is attempting to run her classroom yet. It will be interesting to hear how the day goes. Sometimes she is so not of this world that I worry about how she relates with other children her age.
Here are the kids ready for the bus to come...


I'll post some pictures from the National Zoo from yesterday later. My diplomatic status with the Island of Sodor has been reinstated and I must report for duty...

11.11.11

Now that we're getting settled, I hope to be blogging on a more regular basis.
The past summer was so stressful and anxiety provoking that when I did have time to blog, I didn't feel like it. Looking back at recent blog posts, I miss reading about the day to day details of living with three extremely bright and active children. We are still playing a game of catch-up of sorts, but we are all living in one state now (in addition to chaos) and I have a little more wiggle room to do some things I enjoy.
Caroline will start school on Monday. She is looking forward to it, but I know she is a little anxious. She was tested for reading, writing and other things and we were told she was way ahead of the game (as we thought). Schools in Maryland, by law, have to treat children that are gifted as exceptional and accommodate them like Special Ed kids. Here she will get to meet with a reading specialist once a week and her teacher will be able to work with the G&T Office and let her set her pace and keep us better in the loop so we can work on things, too. I am grateful for this. I was pretty sure it wasn't "normal" for a five year old to read "The BFG" on her own - but it's good to have more support coming from school now.
Sam has really been taking all this change on the chin. He is a boy that needs routine. He has a very specific vision of how things "should" be and has difficulty diverging from that. So this summer has been *ahem* a challenge. He and Caroline have been best buddies and worst enemies this past week (and able to move between the two in less than 60 seconds). I think he'll settle down a bit when Caroline starts school and he can get some extra attention. We need to look for pre-school for him down here - but I'll be honest - I hate to loose him at home, even if it is for only a few hours a couple days a week. It will be good for him, he was a new (and much improved) man once he started at OLA. Since we've moved here, his Worcester accent has gotten stronger - it's hysterical to hear him say "I live in Walkersville, Maryland." It sounds more like "I luv on Wulkasville, Murraylind".
Nate is everywhere and into everything. When the movers "unpacked" us, they took everything out of boxes and left it on the floor for us to put away. With a whole house to put together and three children under the age of 6 - you can imagine how slowly this process is going. To top it off, our tot locks for the cabinets in Worcester don't fit the cabinets here. Nate's favorite new pastime is to empty the contents of whatever cabinet or basket I have most recently arranged. He also has been feeling a bit punky (new teeth / croupy cough) and has been an utter K/cling-on. I say K / cling-on because at times he has the disposition of Worf when he attaches himself like a ball and chain to my leg (especially when I'm cooking dinner).
We went to Gettysburg today for Veteran's Day. The kids didn't really get why we were there, only that it was a day to say "Thank you". When I asked them what we saw when we were adventuring, the reply was "Statues!!" Oh, well. It's not like we won't be back there. Caroline got her packet to start working for her Junior Ranger badge there, so we'll have to go back. That girl simply won't rest until she finishes it. =-)

Sam got hold of my camera. Apparently he sees no need to hold it right-side-up.
Caroline thought this lady was a princess and I didn't have the heart to correct her. There are worse things, I suppose.
On our adventure to the Battlefield Hospital.
Posing with Abe.
At least they're kind of looking in the same direction...

We Made It.

We're here in Walkersville.
I have to say, I never thought I would live in another "ville" after Middleville. And in a lot of ways, Middleville and Walkersville are very, very similar. Walkersville has two more stoplights, a McDonalds and a couple more churches. There are plenty of cows and sheep. The railroad tracks don't have a crossing gate because everyone knows when the trains come. And there are the requisite three old men sitting in chairs on the front porch of the feedstore keeping track of everything and everyone that goes on and by. But it's cute. And now it's home.
Caroline made a wish today that she, Sam and Nate could live here until "we grow up". Guess the move was hard on them, too. It is nice to be all together. We're getting used to functioning as a cohesive unit again. It will take some practice. But we'll figure it out.
We are waiting for our stuff to be delivered, so we've been camping in our house. The only chairs are the toilets - so we eat dinner sitting on the kitchen floor and the kids have spent a lot of time on the can reading. =-) We've spent a bit of time on Skype this weekend.
I think we're all missing people up North.
We like the new house. It isn't perfect, but it's very nice. The kitchen isn't set up intuitively - so finding places for our stuff has been a challenge. There also isn't a lot of closet space downstairs. The kids are loving the new play yard and the sun room that has been acting as the defacto toy area (because we can shut the glass door and keep them contained - Shhhh - don't tell). I'm really enjoying the soaking tub (and so is Caroline - as you'll see later) and having two extra bathrooms.
We went into Frederick City today to explore - it reminds us a lot of Portsmouth, NH - only with Carroll Creek instead of the ocean. It's adorable. We are reminded that we ARE south of the Mason Dixon line. Lots a drawls and y'alls and just a slower pace in general. The weather is more mid-September than early November (but we're not complaining about that).
Leaving Worcester this week, I had flashbacks to my favorite Anne book. Knowing the move was the right thing to do doesn't make it any easier. But I know it will be just fine in the end. It always is. I just have to believe it.
Here are the kids playing in the backyard:


With Carroll Creek in the background, we finally got everyone to look in the same direction...
THIS is downtown Frederick. Nice, huh?
Being a ham, as usual...

See? I TOLD you she liked the soaking tub.